Record Management is, according to RMAA Records Management Association of Australasia, 'field of management responsible for the efficient and systematic control of the creation, receipt, maintenance, use and disposition of records, including processes for capturing and maintaining evidence of and information about business activities and transactions in the form of records.'
Record keeping should be a part of all the various stages of business's life cycle: 'from their creation or receipt, through their processing, distribution, maintenance and use, to their ultimate disposition.'
Making sure that the records are efficient and effective, the 'useless records' should be destroyed and valuable information 'protected and maintained in a manner that facilitates its access and use.' (AIIM, p48)
Ways that Group A record:
*We try to record the activities we do on computers by 'recording' using Cam Studio program. This is a great way of showing visual proof of work.
*When we discuss ideas and challenges we try to have it written down on what we want to accomplish and so on. This is evidence of our meetings and discussions.
*Emails are the best way we've kept record because we mostly communicate with emails when we cannot be all present at the same time.
*Blogs are (and should be more often) used to help keep track of our individual and team work, showing our progress throughout the weeks. Unfortunately this type of record keeping is a bit bias as it is only the person's recollection of their work.
There are many products available to assist in the records management process and they should allow the following-
• Organize records
• Define retention schedules
• Define file plans
• Declare records
• Maintain record security
• Manage records access
• Provide circulation management
• Help preserve records
• (Optionally) provide email management (AIIM, p49)
Educating people to keep records in a very efficient way is necessary in business and project management.
Being a very efficient recordkeeper is essential as information is much more easily retrieved if the records are in an organised way. This does impact on time and the better the record management the quicker the retrieval!
Dearstyne Bruce (Nov 2007). Why Records Management Matters, Public Management, vol. 89; issue 10 p. 24-27. Retrieved April 15 2008 from EBSCOHost
Records Management Association of Australasian, Glossary, RMAA. Retrieved April 16 2008
AIIM, Records Management, AIIM E-DOC Jan/Feb2008 Guide to ECM Purchasing, Vol. 22, p48-52. Retrieved April 15 2008 from EBSCOHost
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Sunday, April 6, 2008
DISCIPLINE
Discipline- a 'sphere of knowledge' that an individual has chosen to specialise in. (wikipedia)
Projects with multiple disciplines involved are very hard to control. This is mostly due to the varied sources of information that are available from the different disciplines to achieve one common goal.
Therefore the best solution is to allow the team members to stay in their own individual disciplines but still be interdependent to and consult with the other team members for delegation and making sure that they are all working towards the same goal.
Project management methods and tools are increasingly relevant as today’s globalized organizations accomplish more of their goals using cross-functional, and often cross-cultural, geographically dispersed, project teams. The increased diversity of skills, knowledge, cultures, and perspectives of these project teams can potentially have both positive and negative influences on group processes and outcomes. (Beise, 2004)
Peterson & Stohr identify virtual teams (a.k.a. Geographically Dispersed Team) as a “group of individuals who work across time, space and organizational boundaries with links strengthened by webs of communication technology. They have complementary skills and are committed to a common purpose, have interdependent performance goals, and share an approach to work for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.” [3]
(http://www.managementhelp.org/grp_skll/virtual/defntion.pdf
Free Management Library: Copyright 1997-2008, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. )
We have been using electronic mediums to communicate throughout our week to collaborate our ideas. In most academic papers, it would list the benefits of virtual collaboration but would still comment on the difficulties that may arise in comparison to face-to-face and on-site collaboration.
Task complexity can be viewed from four perspectives: How a team structures it activities (eg. pooled, sequential, reciprocal or intense), how dynamic the tasks are (ie. Characterized by high uncertainty and a high need to exchange and monitor information), how dependant team members are to those tasks, and how dependant team members are on other team members (Riopelle et al., 2003). (Chiocchio, 2007)
When tasks are complex synchronous meetings are much more useful such as video conferencing or document editing, and when the tasks are less complex and more independent, electronic asynchronous communication such as email are more appropriate. As we begin our project, we have allocated tasks that use both asynchronous and synchronous communication depending on the degree of complexity the task has and whether the task could be independent.
We have used the email and blogs to communicate our ideas and when we get closer an d closer to writing documents collectively, we decide to use more synchronous communication to allow for time-efficiency.
Peterson, Stohr (2000). Definition of Virtual Teams, Virtual Teams Toolkit, from Free Management Library: Copyright 1997-2008, Authenticity Consulting, LLC. Retrieved March 26, 2008. http://www.managementhelp.org/grp_skll/virtual/defntion.pdf
François Chiocchio (2007). Project team performance: a study of electronic task and coordination communication. Project Management Journal, 38(1), p.97-109. Retrieved April 2, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Catherine M. Beise. (2004). IT project management and virtual teams. Proceedings of the 2004 SIGMIS conference on Computer personnel research: Careers, culture, and ethics in a networked environment. p.129 – 133. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Asynchronous Messaging!!
To complete a task with contribution from each member, a team needs more than just face-to-face meetings or real time chatting. There needs to be communication where the people involved do not need to be available at the same time and in the same place, that is, non simultaneous. Asynchronous messaging aids this concept with uses of email, fax, weblog and electronic bulletin boards.
“E-mail communication initially mimicked aspects of the memo genre”, with the emergence of the internet, and still using the same principles. (Yates et al, 2008)
Collaborative writing and editing needs tools that will allow copies of documentation to be sent to each team member and therefore can be edited to make multiple versions. The best option for this is email in that the members can save the copies of each document, edit it in their own time and send it to the others.
Email allows copies to be sent to many at the same time, even offering CC and BCC so others can view the emails. There is forwarding and also we can save sent items to keep a copy of what the individual created themselves. Management of documentation is easy with folders and filters.
“…As e-mail captures an increasing share of an organization’s total communication volume, individuals progressively appropriate their e-mail client as a habitat in which they spend most of their work day.” (Ducheneaut, 2001)
It is used very often as a group information management tool to organize information between members. Not only is it used for document exchange, it is also a means for organizing and scheduling meetings. Email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird, have calendar features that coordinate with that. They help to coordinate emails much more efficiently and allow the receiver to be notified instantly if they have received an email. These clients can also allow the user to work offline with the email documents.
There is also web-mail such as Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail. These are email services that are primarily used via internet browser. This allows the user to see their email on any computer as opposed to the email clients.
“…E-mail is now a central medium for document exchange” (Ducheneaut, 2001)
The traditional fax machine consists of a scanner, a modem and a printer. It transmits information to the receiving fax machine through a phone line and then prints out the copy on paper. (Wikipedia, 2008)
Nowadays there is a more modern version of the facsimile- Internet fax. This reduces the cost dramatically. No phone line, no need for an actual fax machine, no ink or paper, just hardcopy of the document transferred.
This form of collaboration and communication only allows for documentation transfer, and a heading. There is not much versatility and extra features to this form of communication like email.
Discussion boards or electronic forums are used extensively in universities and companies. There have been multiple studies that test the effectiveness of using this medium in the light of education purposes. (Mock, 2001)(Yates et al, 2008) (Ellison and Wu, 2008)
These allow threaded discussion and are for users only. These allow for an easy and straightforward way of communicating at different times and places.
The user needs to sign in to website to see the new posts, not personally sent to the individual like emails.
A very popular and new emergence in the Internet world is weblog (blog for short). Not only is it used by individuals to post anything they would like on the internet but also used as a medium for constant communication on a specific topic/task.
“The features of a weblog include instant publishing of text or graphics to the Web without the user’s need for sophisticated programming knowledge, and mechanisms with which people may provide comments or feedback to each weblog post.”(Chuang, 2008)
Multiple academic papers have studied and written about weblogs other than Chuang (Ellison and Wu, 2008) (Yates et al, 2008)
Blogs allow hyperlinks to others’ blogs and other internet sites therefore allowing a direct connection to other contacts. This is the only asynchronous medium mentioned here that can also be public.
The problem of synchronization is dissolved as the members can decide when and where they will process the information. Therefore asynchronous mediums such as email, fax, discussion forums and weblogs are just as useful and efficient as any other collaborative medium.
References
JoAnne Yates, Wanda J Orlikowski, Anne Jackson. (2008). The Six Key Dimensions of Understanding Media. MIT Sloan Management Review, v.49 n.2, p.63-69. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Nicolas Ducheneaut ,Victoria Bellotti. (Sept./Oct. 2001). E-mail as habitat: an exploration of embedded personal information management. Interactions, v.8 n.5, p.30-38. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/382899.383305
Nicole B Ellison, Yuehua Wu. (2008). Blogging in the Classroom: A Preliminary Exploration of Student Attitudes and Impact on Comprehension. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, v.17 n.1, p.99-122. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from Academic Research Library database.
Hsueh-Hua Chuang (2008) Perspectives and issues of the creation for weblog-based electronic portfolios in teacher education.British Journal of Educational Technology, v.39 n.1, p.170–174. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library
Kenrick Mock. (December, 2001).The use of internet tools to supplement communication in the classroom. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, v.17 n.2, p.14–21. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library.
Wikipedia.com, (2008). Internet Fax. Wikpedia, the free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_fax. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
“E-mail communication initially mimicked aspects of the memo genre”, with the emergence of the internet, and still using the same principles. (Yates et al, 2008)
Collaborative writing and editing needs tools that will allow copies of documentation to be sent to each team member and therefore can be edited to make multiple versions. The best option for this is email in that the members can save the copies of each document, edit it in their own time and send it to the others.
Email allows copies to be sent to many at the same time, even offering CC and BCC so others can view the emails. There is forwarding and also we can save sent items to keep a copy of what the individual created themselves. Management of documentation is easy with folders and filters.
“…As e-mail captures an increasing share of an organization’s total communication volume, individuals progressively appropriate their e-mail client as a habitat in which they spend most of their work day.” (Ducheneaut, 2001)
It is used very often as a group information management tool to organize information between members. Not only is it used for document exchange, it is also a means for organizing and scheduling meetings. Email clients, such as Microsoft Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird, have calendar features that coordinate with that. They help to coordinate emails much more efficiently and allow the receiver to be notified instantly if they have received an email. These clients can also allow the user to work offline with the email documents.
There is also web-mail such as Hotmail, Yahoo and Gmail. These are email services that are primarily used via internet browser. This allows the user to see their email on any computer as opposed to the email clients.
“…E-mail is now a central medium for document exchange” (Ducheneaut, 2001)
The traditional fax machine consists of a scanner, a modem and a printer. It transmits information to the receiving fax machine through a phone line and then prints out the copy on paper. (Wikipedia, 2008)
Nowadays there is a more modern version of the facsimile- Internet fax. This reduces the cost dramatically. No phone line, no need for an actual fax machine, no ink or paper, just hardcopy of the document transferred.
This form of collaboration and communication only allows for documentation transfer, and a heading. There is not much versatility and extra features to this form of communication like email.
Discussion boards or electronic forums are used extensively in universities and companies. There have been multiple studies that test the effectiveness of using this medium in the light of education purposes. (Mock, 2001)(Yates et al, 2008) (Ellison and Wu, 2008)
These allow threaded discussion and are for users only. These allow for an easy and straightforward way of communicating at different times and places.
The user needs to sign in to website to see the new posts, not personally sent to the individual like emails.
A very popular and new emergence in the Internet world is weblog (blog for short). Not only is it used by individuals to post anything they would like on the internet but also used as a medium for constant communication on a specific topic/task.
“The features of a weblog include instant publishing of text or graphics to the Web without the user’s need for sophisticated programming knowledge, and mechanisms with which people may provide comments or feedback to each weblog post.”(Chuang, 2008)
Multiple academic papers have studied and written about weblogs other than Chuang (Ellison and Wu, 2008) (Yates et al, 2008)
Blogs allow hyperlinks to others’ blogs and other internet sites therefore allowing a direct connection to other contacts. This is the only asynchronous medium mentioned here that can also be public.
The problem of synchronization is dissolved as the members can decide when and where they will process the information. Therefore asynchronous mediums such as email, fax, discussion forums and weblogs are just as useful and efficient as any other collaborative medium.
References
JoAnne Yates, Wanda J Orlikowski, Anne Jackson. (2008). The Six Key Dimensions of Understanding Media. MIT Sloan Management Review, v.49 n.2, p.63-69. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from ABI/INFORM Global database.
Nicolas Ducheneaut ,Victoria Bellotti. (Sept./Oct. 2001). E-mail as habitat: an exploration of embedded personal information management. Interactions, v.8 n.5, p.30-38. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library.
http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/382899.383305
Nicole B Ellison, Yuehua Wu. (2008). Blogging in the Classroom: A Preliminary Exploration of Student Attitudes and Impact on Comprehension. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, v.17 n.1, p.99-122. Retrieved March 25, 2008, from Academic Research Library database.
Hsueh-Hua Chuang (2008) Perspectives and issues of the creation for weblog-based electronic portfolios in teacher education.British Journal of Educational Technology, v.39 n.1, p.170–174. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library
Kenrick Mock. (December, 2001).The use of internet tools to supplement communication in the classroom. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, v.17 n.2, p.14–21. Retrieved March 26, 2008, from ACM Digital Library.
Wikipedia.com, (2008). Internet Fax. Wikpedia, the free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_fax. Retrieved March 26, 2008.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Notes for Leonardo's Dome Architecture
The majority of [his series of designs for churches or ‘temples’] work ingenious variations on centralized plans- square, polygonal, round or in combination.
Centralised church designs were beloved of Renaissance theorists…but they were rarely commissioned on a large scale for reasons of liturgy and function.
He was fully conscious of the proportional and structural similarities between the ‘dome’ of the skull and his domed temples… [He also put forward] an analogy between a sound building and a healthy building.
The plans are all derived through a process of setting together a number of simple geometrical shapes in symmetrical patterns.
Leonardo’s compositional procedure is so systematized, and so close in spirit to some present-day ideas on computer-aided architectural design about ‘shape grammars’ and rule-based generative methods for plan layout…
Leonardo is be considered as a theoretician in architecture [even if his only direct influence was on the Santa Maria delle Grazie by his friend Bramante]
[The more we examine the Italian architecture of the Renaissance and its] complete expression of that perfect eurythmya, that rigorous equilibrium…, the stronger and clearer does the figure of Leonardo stand out.
It represents Leonardo’s concrete contribution to the architectural development of the Second Renaissance.
Do these summary expressions of Leonardo’s thought, which never took form in works fully studied and translated into reality, suffice to prove his influence on the development of architecture? We have no doubt of it. Leonardo is an architect potentially.
After Leonardo’s time, the development of the ideas of the central plan seems to be filled with a new spirit, directed to reappraisal of spatial values, which multiply and become stabilized and fused, dominated by the cupola, that Roman element par excellence.
Also there is a certain structure for the stability of domed roofs that he discussed with the use of geometric shapes.
Leonardo da Vinci : Hayward Gallery, London, 26 January to 16 April 1989. London : South Bank Centre, c1989
Leonardo da Vinci. [rev. ed. / edited by Emil Vollmer] New York : Reynal in association with William Morrow, [19-], 1938
"Originally published in Italy by the Instituto Geografico De Agostino just before the war, in conjunction with the famous exhibition of Leonardo’s work in 1938."
Centralised church designs were beloved of Renaissance theorists…but they were rarely commissioned on a large scale for reasons of liturgy and function.
He was fully conscious of the proportional and structural similarities between the ‘dome’ of the skull and his domed temples… [He also put forward] an analogy between a sound building and a healthy building.
The plans are all derived through a process of setting together a number of simple geometrical shapes in symmetrical patterns.
Leonardo’s compositional procedure is so systematized, and so close in spirit to some present-day ideas on computer-aided architectural design about ‘shape grammars’ and rule-based generative methods for plan layout…
Leonardo is be considered as a theoretician in architecture [even if his only direct influence was on the Santa Maria delle Grazie by his friend Bramante]
[The more we examine the Italian architecture of the Renaissance and its] complete expression of that perfect eurythmya, that rigorous equilibrium…, the stronger and clearer does the figure of Leonardo stand out.
It represents Leonardo’s concrete contribution to the architectural development of the Second Renaissance.
Do these summary expressions of Leonardo’s thought, which never took form in works fully studied and translated into reality, suffice to prove his influence on the development of architecture? We have no doubt of it. Leonardo is an architect potentially.
After Leonardo’s time, the development of the ideas of the central plan seems to be filled with a new spirit, directed to reappraisal of spatial values, which multiply and become stabilized and fused, dominated by the cupola, that Roman element par excellence.
Also there is a certain structure for the stability of domed roofs that he discussed with the use of geometric shapes.
Leonardo da Vinci : Hayward Gallery, London, 26 January to 16 April 1989. London : South Bank Centre, c1989
Leonardo da Vinci. [rev. ed. / edited by Emil Vollmer] New York : Reynal in association with William Morrow, [19-], 1938
"Originally published in Italy by the Instituto Geografico De Agostino just before the war, in conjunction with the famous exhibition of Leonardo’s work in 1938."
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Friedrichstrasse Skyscraper
Friedrichstrasse SkyscraperLudwig Mies van de Rohe
1921
(maybe too big but still interesting)
references coming soon...
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Leonardo da Vinci's Dome Architecture
Leonardo da Vinci
Sketches of Domed Churches
At the time of his designing of the cathedral of Milan as he was finding a solution to the problem of equilibrium and harmony like Vitruvius and Alberti.
Sketches of Domed Churches
At the time of his designing of the cathedral of Milan as he was finding a solution to the problem of equilibrium and harmony like Vitruvius and Alberti.
references coming soon...
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